“Christ is our peace: he made of both, Israel and the Gentiles, one people and broke down the dividing wall of enmity” (Eph 2:14)
The people gathered around the crib offer us already an image of the Church and of its spreading. The representatives of the ancient royal line to whom the Savior of the world had been promised and the representatives of the faithful form the link between the Old and the New Alliance. The kings from the Far East represent the pagan people who were to receive the salvation of Judah. In this way, we already have here represented “the Church stemming from the Jews and the pagans”.
At the crib, the three Wise Men represent those who, from all countries and nations, seek God. Grace led them long before they belonged to the visible Church. They were inspired by a plain desire for truth that went past the limits of the teachings and traditions of their countries. Because God is truth and he wants to be found by those who seek him with all their heart (Jer 29:13), the star sooner or later had to shine at the eyes of these wise men to show them the way to truth. This is how they found themselves in front of Truth made man, they prostrated themselves before him to adore him and they laid down their crowns at his feet, because compared to him, all the riches of the world are just a bit of dust.